


A man, a machine, and a monster.

by swm



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, An Ironwood Didn't Shoot AU, Ironwood is significantly less sane and this somehow makes everything better.
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:20:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27753736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swm/pseuds/swm
Summary: A reboot of a story I posted on r/RWBY's writing prompt Wednesdays several months ago.  The prompt was: "As the Grimm approach Atlas, Ironwood activates his final resort."General James Ironwood of Atlas is not a well man. He has always been the black sheep of Ozpin's lieutenants. His methods have always been questioned. He was always convinced he was right. But when his first plan falls apart, when Salem shows her face, when his allies turn on him and his worst fears become reality, what will he do next? Will The General strike out on his own, turn on his comrades and become part of the darkness he once swore to destroy? Or, will James learn from his mistakes? Can he fix all that has broken? Can he still turn this around?
Comments: 5
Kudos: 28





	1. Instinct

"James is what my friends call me..." General Ironwood drew his weapon, and aimed his gun aimed squarely at Oscar's head. 

There's a reason why soldiers train so long. During the stress of battle, when you haven't slept in days, when all your thoughts are focused on how quickly you could just... lose it all, in the heat of the moment, sometimes you can't think straight. Thought takes time. Thought takes attention. Thought takes energy. So you don't think; you just act. 

A civilian would fall back to instincts ingrained in their mind through eons of evolution. But a soldier's training overwrites these instincts. Training does all the thinking ahead of time. 

No, soldier, you cannot run away from the loud scary noises even though you _really_ want to. You're all between those noises and the folks back home. You have a job to do, and your tool in your hand. 

So do it. 

Ironwood had drawn his gun so many times. He had aimed it so many times. He had fired it so many times. His body could go through the entire motion without thought ever entering into the equation. His actions were programmed and automatic. 

Oscar stood, frozen in... perhaps not fear, exactly, but shock. The betrayal in his eyes was unmistakable. A look of terror started on his face. 

But instincts are funny things. Habits hardwired into the human brain do not succumb completely, so easily. No matter how much training you go through, the part of your mind that's more beast than man never truly disappears. 

Some would say that's a shame - that a man can never completely rise above his animal nature. 

But those people forget - that his animal origin is also all that separates man from machine. Were it not for emotional, irrational instinct, all we would have is our programming. 

Ironwood's training, his programming, told him that the next step in his program was to apply pressure using his right pointer finger to operate Due Process' trigger. 

Ironwood's heart told him that his weapon was pointed at his best friend. He was a moment away from turning against his mentor. He was about to stab the man he once called "father" in the back. 

And he was about to murder a child, to do it. 

In a moment, he felt himself split into two. The calm, rational peace of his resignation erupted into chaos. In the space of a second, a bloody civil war raged inside a broken man's head. 

Ironwood stood frozen, tears beginning to well up in his eyes. He tried to blink them away, but when his eyes opened again, he saw not Oscar, but Ruby Rose standing before him. 

"You know, General, _this_ is why I didn't trust you from the beginning" the child leader said, breaking eye contact with him and wandering towards the vault door. Oscar remained still, the terror in his face turning to confusion as the General tracked the invisible girl with his pistol. 

"You might act like you're untouchable, with your fleet in the sky and your armies of minions," she turned towards him with an unnatural snarl on her face. "But I know the truth. The truth is, you're only brave while you're in control. While you hold all the cards. Soon as something goes wrong... as soon as _anything_ happens outside your brilliant plan. You fall apart. You shut down faster than one of your robots." She took a step towards him. "Well. Guess. What. Against Salem, you _never_ hold all the cards. You what does that makes you, general? _Worthless._ " 

General Ironwood's reply was automatic. He detected a known hostile agent in front of him, and in response, without a moment's hesitation or thought, he fired a single round from Due Process squarely into the phantom Ruby's center of mass. She fell backwards noiselessly. 

In his peripheral vision, Ironwood saw Oscar jump at the noise, but otherwise the boy's terrified expression had morphed into one of confusion and concern. He glanced between the side of Ironwood's head to the neat little hole Due Process had punched into the floor of the vault a few meters in front of the shaking General. There was no anger in Oscar's voice when he spoke, barely above a whisper: "James, what do you see?" 

Now that he had a moment's peace, it occurred to General Ironwood that this situation was entirely wrong. He had left Ruby Rose in his office, surrounded by his best men. Even if she had managed to escape that trap, she could never have breached the vault's outer defenses without him _noticing_. On some level, the General knew he was out of it. It had been quite a day, and he couldn't remember the last time he got a proper night's sleep. Still, even in this state, he felt confident he would have noticed an explosion large enough to crumple a 20 centimeter solid steel bulkhead. 

Oscar took a step towards the General, reaching out to the much taller man with his free arm, "James, whatever it is, it's not real." 

If General Ironwood heard Oscar at all, he didn't show it. His eyes bugged out as Ruby, lying flat on her back with her arms stretched out at her sides, lifted her head up to give him a look of contempt. "Great plan, General Ironwood! You've just murdered a mostly-innocent seventeen-year-old girl." Instantly, the forms of Penny, Weiss, Blake and Yang materialized next to their fallen leader. With Weiss beside her, Penny knelt next to Ruby's side and placed her hands over the wound as if to stop the bleeding. Blake put Ruby's head on her knees and held her left hand. Yang crumpled over Ruby, her tears dousing her inner fire. She sobbed quietly. 

Ironwood's face softened a little. No matter how misguided Ruby's resistance to his plan had been, he couldn't bring himself to hate the child. As hopelessly naive as she was, there could be no doubt to her motives. The young woman he had just killed was as innocent in her defiance today as she had been at Beacon. Despite her evidently mortal wounds, Ruby's voice carried no less venom: "Yup! That's right! Look at what you've done! Ozpin's protégé, the only known silver eyed warrior of this generation, the woman who brought you _the lamp_ , bleeding to death on the ground." 

Ironwood looked away, his voice came out in an even monotone: "It's your own fault. My plan is right. When faced with a superior enemy force, the proper response is to retreat to safety to preserve strength until a better opportunity presents itself." 

Ruby rolled her eyes, "Are you _listening_ to yourself? You call yourself a soldier? You call yourself a _Huntsman_?! You leave your own people to die and call it _strategy?_ Okay, sure. Let's go with that. Tell me, general, you've just killed the leader of the opposition. Now what?" 

Weiss stood up from her vigil, silently turned to face the general. From behind her, without a hint of pain, Ruby's voice jolted the General out of his stupor, "Well, General? You going to kill her, too?" As Ruby spoke, Weiss drew her sword. Before Ironwood could even respond, a shard of ice rocketed past him from behind, burying itself into Weiss' neck and killing her instantly. A nanosecond later, before Weiss even had a chance to fall to the ground, Winter had rushed past the dumbstruck General and held Weiss in her arms. Though her face remained as stoic as ever, Ironwood knew his second well enough to recognize her broken heart behind her eyes. 

"Welp! Guess I'm not going alone! Hey, General, you planning on offing any more of my friends? How about Penny, next?" 

A deeper voice came from behind Ironwood, "How about _all of them?_ " 

Ironwood had just enough time to gasp as a black, whispy mist envelopped the entire group. They crumped to the ground as two Apathy Grimm, followed by Salem herself rose from the void. The witch laughed at the scene before her: "My, my. Sister has killed sister. Brother has turned on brother." A warm smile formed on Salem's face as she strode towards the frozen General, barely taking her eyes off him to execute the prone Huntsmen. You know, General Ironwood, it took the severed heads of his three teammates arriving by personal courier to turn Theodore against Ozma. And he was _pathetic_." If I had known I just had to send you _one_ message, why, I would have saved myself the postage.

Ironwood's arm dropped to his side. He looked helplessly at the fallen Ruby, who only snickered at him in return: "Hey! I'd be happy to help you with some super awesome silver eye light show magic, but I seem to have developed the tiny problem of a _massive hole in my heart_. Oh! But I guess you wouldn't get why that's such an issue, given that you don't have one." 

Ironwood's arms dropped to his sides. He looked at the ground as one of the Apathy cut Winter down in front of him. He heard Penny turn towards him, only to give a shriek of pain as her second body was torn apart. 

He started to cry. "It's the only way! It's all we can do! Salem's power is beyond our imaginations and she has caught us completely unprepared... by the gods I wish there was any other way but there isn't. She's coming here and she's going to kill everyone she can find. The best we can do is save those few we can." 

Oscar watched as the Iron Fist of Atlas, Commander in Chief of the most powerful armed forces in the world, Military Genius and Huntsman extraordinare General James Ironwood of Atlas fell to pieces in front of him, shouting at nothing. 

Evidently, it was all the man's friend could take. Ozpin's voice cut through the waking nightmare in Ironwood's mind, "James! James! It's only in your mind!" 

Ironwood jerked around, leveling Due Process at Oscar's head once again. was not deterred, and kept speaking, "James! Listen to me! I know what you are feeling. They turned on me, too." The fear in Ironwood's eyes gave way to cold fury. His jaw set and his eyes steeled. 

"You turned on us, first." The General pulled the mechanism back on his gun. 

Neither the unspent round suddenly going _plink_ on the ground, nor the knowledge that the gun was still loaded and apparently in the hands of someone with an increasingly belligerant attitude and a tenous grip on sanity made Oscar feel any less nervous. He jumped at the noise in the quiet room. _What the hell are you doing?!_ Oscar shouted in his mind at his increasingly unwanted guest. Ozpin may be used to reincarnating, the boy thought, but he was not on board with throwing his life away playing whatever game Ozpin was trying by antagonizing Ironwood. 

_It's the only common ground I can think of, just give me a minute._ Ozpin thought at his long-suffering host. "I was only trying to spare you this, James. Look at what this knowledge has done to you." Oscar gestured around the room, his eyes falling on the neat little hole in the floor where Ironwood's stray bullet had landed. He walked around the General, moving away from the edge to the middle of the vault. "General, you are falling apart." Ozpin watched Ironwood's eyes flicker to his side, glancing at the bullet hole. "And without you, the city isn't far behind. Yes, James, I lied to you. I lied to Ruby. Ruby lied to you. All of these things happened, and nothing is going to change that. But I'm still calling you James because, even though I lied to you, even though you're currently aiming a gun at my head. I still consider you my friend and ally. I lied to you because I _know_ you, James. You're a military man, an Atlasian soldier. You think in terms of destroying your enemy by overwhelming force. With Salem that is simply not an option, and I was _afraid_ that you'd- I withheld information I felt you did not- that you could not-" Ozpin's voice wavered slightly as the gun pulled up, pointing over Oscar's shoulder. Ironwood looked away. 

"You thought I couldn't handle it." 

_And I was right_ Ozpin thought, though voicing that particular argument right now would likely end in him needing to introduce himself to a new host. He took a different argument: "Perhaps. But that was not the main reason. James, do you remember the conversation we had with Penny? The _big_ one? When we told her that she couldn't reveal her true nature to anyone outside of the military?" 

"We told her she'd be misunderstood. That people would look at her and think she was some sort of plot. She hated lying..." 

"We told her that people would fear her, not for who she was, but for who she _could be_. People would fool themselves into thinking her existence represented some sort of threat, of a conspiracy that never existed. People would look at her and see some sort of killing machine pretending to be a girl, rather than a child who just happened to be made of steel and oil, rather than flesh and blood. We told her it was not _the truth_ that we were trying to keep from the public, but rather the lies they would tell themselves in response to the truth." 

"One little lie to stop a much greater one... you're saying... you did that to me? Alright then, old man, what lie have I told myself?" 

"That because we cannot kill Salem, there is no use in trying to fight her. You're prepared to run, leaving Mantle to its fate and ultimately condemning the world to the same. James, I know you, and this is _beneath_ you. You're _afraid_. You once told you you never wanted to retire, that you simply wanted to keep on fighting until, one day, you died with your gun in your hand." 

"Still do... just... not for nothing. Oz, it's all been for _nothing_. It doesn't matter if we win today, she'll just be back tomorrow. I'm willing to die for something, but not for _nothing_. Oz, I've lost people. I've seen my soldiers die. I've _sent_ them to their deaths. For what? Just another day? I've told families that their loved ones deaths _meant_ something! All the **suffering** I helped cause. I thought it was for a reason. Was that another little lie, Oz? How could you? How do you even get out of bed in the morning?" The anger and fear faded from the General's voice as he spoke, replaced with an almost pleading confusion. "How do you justify letting a world like this keep on existing?" The general's arm stiffened, but shook, his gun aiming wildly. In the back of his mind, Oscar wondered if the General could even hit him anymore. 

_I- He-_ Ozpin's thoughts ground to a halt. It was a question that troubled him. It was a question he had asked himself the day he lost his children, and had not been able to answer then. It had taken him lifetimes to find a solution, in the eyes of four young women who visited him one day. The first maidens had given him an answer, but here, now, watching one of his best friends founder in front of him, he could not find a way to articulate it. For once, the great story teller was at a loss for words. 

Oscar looked down and shook his head _Let me handle this_ , a child's voice filled his teacher's silence. When Oscar looked back up, the glow of Ozpin's influence had disappeared. The child wished to speak, it seemed. "General, I... don't have all of Ozpin's memories yet, could you remind me? Do you have children of your own?" 

Pale, ice blue and bright neon green flashed in the General's mind, but he shook his head no. _There's no way they would accept that of me. Not now. Not anymore._

Oscar raised an eyebrow at Ironwood's total denial. _He_ hadn't missed the looks Winter gave Ironwood, desperately seeking his approval, or the crushed expression on Penny's face after Ironwood described her as a machine under his control. _You'd think a general would pay better attention to his army._ "I think, perhaps, you will understand anyway. Ozma had many across his many lifetimes. When you have a child James, you are creating a new person and bringing them into _this_ world. To live, to laugh, to feel love and joy and triumph, but yes, also, to suffer." James gave Oscar a pained look. "Yes, yes, you tell yourself you'll keep them safe from anything and everything. You say that but, everyone knows that no one really gets through life without scars. And, yet, throughout history, billions of people have decided that the life they could give their child was worth living. Maybe they didn't know about Salem, but they did know about the Grimm. They did know about war, and sickness, and hate, and all the evils Salem represents. And they decided it was all worth it." 

"Maybe they decided wrong." The General's voice answered at a whisper 

"Maybe they did. But that's not your choice to make, and it's not mine, and it's definitely not Salem's." Oscar was ranting now. An anger... a fury... but also a certainty and vindiction not entirely his own bubbling to the surface from deep within his mind, hundreds of lifetimes speaking in a single voice: "So I decided I would give them that choice." 

Oscar stepped towards Ironwood, "Salem wants to stop them? Wants to take it away? Well, that I cannot and I do not accept. So, I built myself an army and I lead it to war. And, yes, I lost people, James. I watched some of my friends die, some suffer, and some _fall_ , and. Every. Single. One. Hurt. Each more than the last, but you know what? Looking back on it all, I regret **nothing.** I wish that I could take it all on myself. I wish that I didn't have to ask people to die in my place. Salem _is_ my war to fight. But I have not the strength to battle Salem alone anymore. She does not tire. She does not rest. She does not **die.** I do. No matter how many times I reincarnate I am always only a human. So, I must ask others to fight and die alongside me. Is that evil? Maybe. But it's an evil born of love, and it is definitely the lesser one." 

"But you can't _win_. We can't win! All we can do is put off the inevitable." 

"Perhaps. It would still be worth it _if_ that was we could do. But... maybe we can do better?" Oscar's voice raised at the end. It was a genuine question. 

Apparently, Ozpin found his voice again. With a silent _thank you_ to his young partner, he spoke again to his friend: "James, look around you. You're standing in Atlas. The pinnacle of human achievement. You fight your battles with robots and airships. You drove the Grimm so far back some members of your citizenry barely remember they exist. In my first life, I watched City Guardsmen fight the Grimm with swords and spears. Today, they use machine guns and mechs. You know, I brought you into the circle after I listened to your speech about removing humans from the battlefield and replacing them with robots. I brought you in because you made me realize maybe we _could_ do more. James, Salem has no more power today than she had all those lifetimes ago. But people grow stronger with every generation. Technology improves, more people are born, more machines are built. Dust, the Engine, Contra-gravity and airships, Mechs, these are things we once fought without!" 

Ozpin paused, looking carefully at Ironwood's face and apparently liking what he saw. The General no longer glared at him, and instead was staring off into space. 

"James, I think Salem knows this, too. That's why she's become so much more active. She realizes that she has to move now, while she still has a chance. James, your speech made me realize something. It has always been my belief that each generation is stronger than the last, but you made me realize that soon a generation will come that is strong _enough_. James, in a war, what do you do, when you're not stronger than your enemy today, but you have every reason to think that reinforcements are coming that will make you stronger than them tomorrow? Do you just retreat? Give up?" 

"You fight a delaying action... and you hold out until your reinforcements get there." The general's arm dropped to his side limply. He froze for a moment before bringing the gun up to his chest, examining it closely, as if it held the way out. 

His words were hopeful, but inside his mind, the General's thoughts were of a rather different tone. It was as if a switch had been flipped in his mind, but he felt no better. He went from drowning in fear and hopelessness, to guilt and shame. _I was going to leave them. Did I really want to live in a world where Atlas saved itself? By leaving Mantle to die? I came so close... I was going to leave them. I had made up my mind. I may as well have killed them all myself. How do I look Penny in the eye after this? How do I live with myself knowing what I would have done?_

Ozpin saw the guilt building in his friend's face. "I'm so sorry, old friend. I hadn't... I thought... I hoped you would never need to see a day like this. But, the day has come, we _have_ to fight Salem here and we _have_ to win. And for that, I need you, General James Ironwood of Atlas. Please, James, don't desert me now." 

Ironwood dropped his gun. His mind simply blank. 

"James, it's alright. You haven't done anything yet you cannot undo. I know, you're confused, and frightened, and ashamed. But, I _need_ you. Atlas is facing a fight for its very survival, and it _needs_ its General. Please... James, please..." 

With that final word, General Ironwood of Atlas, the man who would have sacrificed anything to protect what little he could, surrendered to James. 

James looked at his mentor, "Oz... I don't know what to do." 

Ozpin's and Oscar's voices intermixed as both spoke at once, "Just... trust me. Pick your gun up and let's get out of here." 

And so they did. Oscar took James' hand and lead him to the elevator, pausing only to recover the pistol lying on the floor. They would need that later, Oscar decided. And when they were ready, he would return it. 


	2. Differing Perspectives

Oscar guided James back over to the elevator out of the vault, glancing back over his shoulder at the broken shell of a man standing behind him and staring into space. _What do you think, Oz...?_

_I like to think I understand my lieutenants. How they think. What they care about. What they fear. James is afraid of failure, Oscar. Not just dying, not just seeing others die. James believes that his purpose in this life is to lead the Atlas military to victory over Salem._ Ozpin's monologue paused as he reflected. Oscar tapped the control panel and started the elevator moving up before turning his gaze back to the General, who had begun fidgeting with a medal on his uniform. 

_Some would say he is obsessed with control, but I do not believe that genuinely captures the General's mind. He values control because he sees that control as a means to an end. James is not a fighter. He fights his battles through others. He can only keep fighting so long as he stays in control. In my opinion, James' problem is that he has forgotten what he is fighting for. You and I, Ruby, Qrow, the rest of us, we fight Salem because wish to preserve the world. We wish to save the lives of the innocent, and protect the civilization we have grown in. We fight Salem because she has made the destruction of these things her life's mission. James has... forgotten this. In his mind, the defeat of Salem, and not the preservation of the world, has become the end goal. He does not care what he gives up to defeat Salem, so long as she is beaten._

_That's why he diverted funds from Mantle... why he was so willing to leave them behind._ Oscar replied. 

A silence descended on the vault as the elevator made its way back up. The General said nothing, staring at the sealed vault door with haunted eyes. Of all the things to save him from himself... a door. It was almost absurd.

_Indeed. In truth, I doubt that James even cares much what happens to Atlas. Atlas is his tool with which to destroy Salem. Much in the same way it does not matter how many pieces you lose in a game of Chess, so long as you achieve Checkmate, it matters nothing to James if Mantle, Atlas, Vale, or any of the rest of them fall, so long as Salem is destroyed. He does not understand that we do not share those priorities. He feels we cannot see the bigger picture, that the sacrifice of Mantle will lead to the defeat of Salem. So, when Ruby revealed the truth: that Salem could not be killed, he felt like I set him up to fail. As though I gave him a mission I knew was impossible. He cannot fathom that there is an even bigger picture than defeating Salem._ A tiny hint of disgust mixed into the generally somber tone of Ozpin's thoughts. A part of Oscar felt indignant at the emotion. 

But before he could speak out, Ozpin continued. _I'm afraid I helped create that mentality._ Ozpin reflected. Now Oscar realized he could not tell if the disgust his partner felt was directed at the General, or at himself. He suspected the answer was both. _By taking him into my trust, but denying the same courtesy to the Atlas council, I broke James' chain of command. Even before the Fall of Beacon, he had not served the Atlas civilian government in years. He forgot his loyalty to his country. I was okay with that. But I did not realize he had also forgotten his loyalty to his people. He devoted himself to serving what he saw as my cause, and he did everything he could to advance my war with Salem. He grew frustrated when I did not fully appreciate his zeal._

In the child's head, the two inhabitants continued their conversation. _Why didn't you? Why not encourage him?_

_Salem lulled me into a false sense of security. I did not realize she posed an immediate threat, and I believed that Ironwood's preemptive measures threatened to destroy the peace and prosperity I had worked so hard to build from the ashes of The Great War. **I was wrong.** I was wrong, and I admit that freely now. I have been wrong about a great many things across a great many lifetimes, but I have never been more wrong about anything in my life than I was in that moment. It's why I cannot condemn James for this mistake. I have made far worse._

The dialogue was interrupted by a small sound coming from the General. It was his scroll beeping, the General mechanically looked down and tried to bring up the incoming message. Oscar noted the man was having trouble with the controls, as Ozpin continued: _I gave him a mission I knew he couldn't accomplish, and then I left him alone. When Ruby revealed the truth to James... I think that was the moment he finally broke. It wasn't just that he didn't have a plan; he no longer had a **purpose**. Ironwood is a General. Generals don't pick what wars to fight, they choose how to fight them. Ironwood has learned that his war is unwinnable, and so all he can think of to do is stave off defeat for as long as possible. Abandoning Mantle might have prolonged the conflict with Salem for months or years, but only months or years. We would lose this benevolent stalemate. _

_So now what? How do we get the General to understand that he's fighting the wrong battle? How do we heal him?_

_I don't know that we can. Now that he isn't a threat, it might be best if we just got him someplace safe and tried to find Ruby._

_Just leave him? That's seriously your plan? And then, what? Oz I want to go back to Ruby, too, but once we find her, what do we do?! If Salem really is coming we're going to need everyone we can get._

_Oscar, the man is not well. James has been paranoid since even before the Fall, he's locked down the city and now he's apparently **hallucinating.** He's in no condition to help us. _

Oscar looked up at the General, still fiddling with his scroll. Ironwood was a master at putting on a brave face. He kept his body ramrod straight, with only the unsteadiness in his hand hinting at his inner turmoil. He looked... distant, but not unreachable. Like he was deep in thought, not lost in thought. 

_I don't think he's insane. You said it yourself, Oz, Ironwood thinks this fight is his purpose in life... is his entire life. Everything he's tried to do the last few days has fallen apart on him and made things worse. I think he's stressed past his breaking point... and **very very** sleep deprived. I think all he needs is some downtime, and something to go right for once. We should call Ruby, get her back here and try to put together some kind of plan while Ironwood rests up and-_

While Oscar and Ozpin spoke, the General managed to get his messages open. In a nanosecond, the smoldering dread, lingering guilt and background feelings of being lost and inadequate were blown out of his mind by sheer panic. 

"What-?!" Ironwood's voice cut through Oscar's thoughts. The General's eyes were wide and panicked as he frantically typed dialed his scroll. Before Oscar had a chance to wonder what fresh hell had befallen them, Ironwood had the scroll up to his ear and shouted into it: "Winter Schnee, Report!" 

Oscar could just hear Winter's answer, and the boy grimaced at the labored, pained tone in her voice, "Attacked by Cinder Fall while trying to gain Winter Maiden's powers. Cinder was repelled, but Fria is dead. Penny gained her powers and escaped with Ruby. Weiss is with them. General I- I'm so-" she trailed off, her quickly dropping voice betraying her expectations. She thought Ironwood would be furious, and would snap at her. 

To be honest, a part of Ozpin had expected that, too. 

Ironwood winced in pain as his instinct to put his head in his hands was foiled by his injured arm. He paused to school himself. He tried to keep his emotions under control, tried to sound comforting, "Winter, first things first, what is _your_ status?" The pained breathing and rapid tone of a heart rate monitor over the scroll call answered James' question before Winter could manage to form words. 

"She- I- I'm so sorry General. I've failed you." 

"No, Winter, no. Never say that again. You kept the powers of the maiden from the agents of Salem. Now tell me - how badly are you hurt?" 

"Broken aura. Three cracked ribs. Doctors aren't sure the extent of my internal injuries, but, I'll live." 

Visible relief appeared on Ironwood's face as he took a deep breath. Oscar could hear him whispering, "She's going to be alright..." 

If it were physically possible, Oscar would have sent his partner a significant glance. Instead he settled for thinking, _See? He does care about something else. He's not that out of it._

"See that you do. I'm going to need you on your feet." 

"Sir... yes sir, General" 

"Please, call me James." 

"Sir, yes sir, James." 

The elevator reached the top as James closed his scroll. He sent a significant glance at Oscar when the boy just stood there for a moment. _He's waiting for us._ Oscar realized. 

_James might be better but he's still not well. We need get him some place safe, and have him rescind the arrest orders. And, in the mean time, we need to keep him busy, Oscar. I'll go first._

Ozpin stepped off the elevator first, "James, if I didn't know better, I would think you were worried about her." 

Ironwood glanced back at Ozpin, "Is that a problem?" 

"Quite the opposite, really. To be honest, I was beginning to wonder if you had stopped paying attention to your heart altogether." 

Ironwood tried to ignore the bloody effigy of Ruby smirking down at Oscar "Can you blame him?" she asked. 

He had _really_ hoped that those hallucinations were a product of his cognitive dissonance, and would stay down in the vault where he left his original plan. 

Ironwood shook his head, both to dispel the phantom and to answer her question. 

Oscar noticed. "James, what are you seeing?" 

"Ghosts. Mistakes. Failures." 

"I see." The saddened tone in Oscar's voice indicated he had hoped for a more specific answer. 

Ironwood decided that, if Oscar hadn't written him off yet, surely at this point nothing would convince him. He settled for the complete truth: "Ruby is walking backwards, grinning, about two meters ahead of us. There's a hole right through the center of her chest where I shot her in the vault. She's... making finger guns at me, Oz." 

Oscar and Ozpin both tried to figure out what to do with that new piece of information. And both failed. 

The two headmasters went by a pair of soldiers, who stood to the side and saluted at Ironwood. He returned the salute automatically, but it sent a flare of shame through him. _How little I deserve it._

The next hallway was empty, and a minute of silence passed before Ironwood started to speak again, "I know I haven't exactly been making many friends recently. Been losing them quite fast, actually. But, Oz, **you** know that I was just trying to... trying to... trying my best... right?" 

Ozpin answered, "I know, James." 

"It's just... I don't... I don't know how to fight like this. When every plan I make falls apart, when everything I know is wrong, when everyone is against me, when the few people I do trust **betray me** ". 

Oz tensed at the harsher tone, but softened again when he looked closer at the General's face. James was staring off into space. There was anger in the General's words, but more than anything, he just sounded lost and confused. "Are you talking about me, or about Ruby?" 

"Both. Neither. I don't really care that Ruby doesn't trust me." Ironwood was a terrible liar, Ozpin concluded as he read the truth out of the General's tone. "...And I understand why you would keep something like Salem's invincibility close to the chest I just... I try so hard, Oz. I can't figure it out. I make the best plans I can, I do the best I can, why are my answers always wrong?" He paused, despair growing in his voice. "Why doesn't anyone trust me?" 

Ozpin mused for a moment. _Because you are too straightforward and single minded in your thinking. When you decided to abandon Mantle, **you told them**. You assumed they would just fall into line. If you had just lied to them, tricked them, you and Atlas could be safely away right now. But you didn't. It didn't even occur to you. You assume that because people are on your side, they are as loyal to you as your robots - your pawns. But you aren't playing chess. You haven't realized that loyalty is something that must be cultivated. Nurtured. How to explain that in terms you will understand? _

Ozpin answered, "James, please do not take this the wrong way but, you do not understand people. If a pilot flies his airship too fast, turns too rapidly, and the craft breaks up and kills the pilot, well that's hardly the airship's fault, is it? It was instructed to do something it could not, and so it failed. The result was the destruction of both the pilot and the airship. Well, Ruby is no more capable of following the order to abandon Mantle than that airship was of making that turn. And the fault is yours. James, I regret to inform you, you are a terrible Ruby pilot." Ozpin tried sending the General a smile. 

Ironwood did not laugh.

Ozpin didn't let it bother him, "So, when you ordered Ruby to do something she couldn't... when you gave her an order that would end up destroying **you** , James, as much as it would destroy her, of course she refused. Just as a more intelligent airship might limit its pilot's speed, or decline to try that turn. If I know Ruby, I would bet that she tried to talk you out of it. Am I right?" 

Ironwood nodded, "She did. They all did." 

"Of course they did. But they did it to try to protect you." _And everyone else in Mantle, of course._ "They realized you were making a terrible mistake, and that you were acting against your own best interests - your own goals. So they disobeyed your command in order to protect your side. James, after all that you did at Beacon I would expect **you** of all people to understand that disobedience does not always mean disloyalty."

"But Ruby **is** disloyal."

"Oh, she is certainly not loyal to you, anymore. But she is still on **our** side. She wants to defeat Salem just as much as you do, James. She's just not as willing to sacrifice as you are."

"Then she's a fool, or maybe a coward." Ironwood said, coldness creeping into his voice. 

"She is neither, James. You know what she is, you told me it once, she is a child. In spite of everything, Ruby is a girl of 17 who wants to keep the people around her safe and happy. You treated her like a hardened soldier. She isn't one. And, with all due respect to Winter, I hope she never becomes one." 

The two of them walked around a corner and there, in front of Ironwood's office, were the ACE-OPS. They lay where they fell among the wreckage, sleeping peacefully amidst the damaged hallway with their hands tied behind their backs. It occurred to Ironwood that, yes, he knew this. Winter's message had said that Penny escaped with Ruby and Weiss. Hence, it logically follows that Ruby and Weiss had escaped the trap he left them in. Since his ACE-OPS would never betray him, it logically follows that they had to have been defeated. 

But knowing something, and seeing it right in front of your face are two very different things. Ironwood stopped in horror for just a moment, while Oscar ran over to Marrow. The shock that Atlas Academy's finest had been trounced by Beacon first years followed passed into confusion as Oscar darted back and forth between them, before the child gave a loud sigh of relief and turned to face Ironwood. 

"James, if you needed any more evidence of Ruby's state of mind, here it is: They're all alive. They're not hurt, not seriously at least. And they're here, for you to find, rather than sitting in a Mantle jail. Ruby doesn't want to hurt you, James, just to stop you."

Ironwood walked over to Harriet and knelt down beside her. "You would have followed me into the abyss, wouldn't you?" He mumbled and looked up to Oscar, "And I would have led her there, wouldn't I? And she'd never have even questioned it until we all died together." 

Ozpin nodded. "They would have. There is value in this sort of loyalty, James. Even blind obedience has its place. But that place is not everywhere. Sometimes, as leaders, we do have to tell our subordinates that they just have to trust that we know what we are doing. But when we do it becomes all the more incumbent upon us to actually know what we are doing. When we don't, well, we ought to be very grateful that we have subordinates who can take up the slack for us, even tell us to our faces that we are wrong, and even work against us in order to protect us from ourselves. James - You did that for me, once. What Ruby is doing here, is the same thing you did when you went to the Vale council. I did not doubt your allegiance, then. I knew that I had forced your hand, and lost your trust. And that you were not to blame for it, and I was. And I knew that I would have to re-earn your trust before you would follow me again. Now, you must do the same to Ruby."

Ironwood nodded and walked over to his desk. He glanced briefly at the bizarre storm gathering in the distance outside of his window, but paid it little attention. _Another hallucination. Just what I needed._ He turned away and sat down at his desk and tried to think. _How do I start? How do I fix this mess?_ He gave a glance at the now suspiciously silent hallucination of Ruby, who had simply wandered to over to lean against the wall to his left.

"Don't look at me!" She said, "I'm your hallucination! Hey, genius, that boy over there has the souls of her mentor and her friend-maybe-future-boyfriend crammed into one weird body."

The General could not fault her logic. He wished he could. It was a troubling sign when your hallucinations started to make sense. "Oscar, I... I need to get Ruby, and the rest of them, back here and on my side. But I just... do not understand Ruby. Could you, maybe, help me?" 

Oscar gave up trying to revive Marrow. He walked into the office, his eyes widening slightly at the sight of the cloud of Grimm clearly visible behind the window, which the General had apparently not thought to mention. "Sure. Uh, General. Well, Ruby has well..." Oscar paused, looking for words. 

Ozpin's memories helped him, but he tried to add his own: "Ruby has an innocence about her. One that I wasn't expecting from somebody who had been through so much. All she wants in the world is for the people she cares for to be safe, and to be happy. And, James, she cares about just... everyone. She isn't naïve, she knows that some people are evil, and want to hurt her. But, she isn't willing give up. She's not going to stop fighting until everyone is safe, and she's never going to accept any plan that involves anyone dying. She doesn't care if she doesn't have a better idea, she just can't accept that there might not be one." 

"What if there isn't?" Ironwood said morosely. 

"Then Ruby is going to _die_ trying to figure one out." 

Ironwood put his head in his hand. "I don't have a plan, Oscar. I don't know how to save everyone. I wouldn't have even considered leaving Mantle if I did. What do I have to offer her to make her come back?" 

"James, you don't need a... welllllll... Maybe lifting her arrest warrant might be a good start?" 

The General froze at the glaringly obvious first step. Yes, it _had_ been a long day, (or days), hadn't it? He paused, looked down and took a deep breath, and then another. When he was convinced he would sound sufficiently calm and commanding, he reached down to his desk to activate the communications system, "Attention all stations. The previously sent arrest orders for the members of Huntsmen teams RWBY, JPNR, as well as the orders for the arrest of Oscar Pine and Qrow Branwen were sent in error. They are rescinded. Stand by for further instructions." 

He was about to close the transmission when a gruff, deep voice answered him: "Sir! We've been trying to reach you. Early warning systems have tripped over the entire southeast Quad. And, sir, RADAR has a... well... I don't know what it is, sir, but it's a massive RADAR contact about 200 klicks out and it's heading our way. Orders, sir?" 

_Commodore Cupric, Commander of Atlas Air Fleet 1, and probably the man running my army right now. Massive RADAR contact... what is he..._ Ironwood turned around and looked out the window again at the massive **black** cloud. It didn't seem to be moving, but, he knew on some terrible level that a storm looking stationary just means it's coming right for you. 

In a flash, he activated his semblance. Mettle permitted him to hold his voice together, but only just, "Cupric, take Ante and his scouts and go in closer. Get me some kind of estimate of what we're dealing with and report back when you have something. Ironwood out." The General shut down the receiver before another of his junior officers could give him even more bad news. 

The calm his semblance provided him was false, Ironwood knew. It would hold him together, even if nothing else would. He might have considered keeping it on, but... he realized something. Had he activated his semblance earlier, in the vault, he would have shot Oscar without a second thought. Mettle was a way of enduring the unendurable, but in his current frame of mind Ironwood realized that he could not trust himself with it. No matter what was out there, **he** was an even bigger threat to them all, so long as he kept it activated.

He felt relief that a part of him was still capable of realizing this necessity. 

And, a moment after acting on his realization, he felt nothing but **terror.**

Oscar's face fell as Ironwood's eyes bugged out, his jaw dropped, and his hands went to his sides. 

"Oz... you see the dark cloud out the window, don't you?" He asked. 

Ozpin tried to keep his voice even as he spoke, "Yes, I see it James." 

"That's her, isn't it?" 

"Yes, James, I should think so." 

Ironwood walked over to one of his cabinets and took from it a large unlabeled bottle, and a pair of small shot glasses. He walked back over to his desk, and sat down at it, facing away from the monster in the window. As though not seeing it would allow him to think that maybe it wasn't there anymore. He poured himself a drink, and, to Oscar's dismay, started to laugh. 

"You know... I was saving this bottle for the day we brought Amity back online." He drank. "I thought we could all toast the launch together, right here." He poured himself another. "You, me, Qrow, the kids, Winter, Penny... I even had sparkling cider for you and Qrow." He paused a moment before downing his second shot. "Guess there's no point in that now, huh." He laughed. "Because now, **Salem's here** and she's going to kill each and every one of us." He poured himself another drink, his hands starting to shake. "Well, she can take Atlas, but she can't take this." 

Oscar frowned, "James, that isn't helping." 

"Oh, I wouldn't say that, Oscar. I would say it's helping me quite a lot." Drinking was something to do while waiting for the inevitable, at least. And maybe it would cloud his mind enough that, when the end came, he wouldn't realize it. 

_He was doing so well, too._ Ozpin thought, sadly. 

_We are not leaving him like this._ Oscar cut in. _He is still our friend. He's just a little... hysterical._

_No, of course not. But we can't let him drink himself into a stupor either. Hysterical or not, if Salem has truly come with a force so large we can see it from a window from 200 kilometers away, well... we're going to need the General. I have an idea._

"James, do you remember when I said that sometimes blind obedience does have its place?"

Ironwood nodded, still looking at his drink. He had started to shake as his last nerves began to wear through.

"I need you to trust me. No matter what's out there. No matter what she's brought. We are going to find a way to beat it. And you are going to help us do it. But, for that to happen, I need something from you first. I need you to drop your Aura."

It was no small request. Aura, in its most common form, was simply a shield and a healing force. The only reason to ask someone to lower their Aura is if you intended to do something to them that their Aura might block. To ask this of someone was essentially asking them to place themselves entirely at your mercy. To actually lower it was a sign of their total trust in you. 

Despite his despair at the sad necessity, it gave Ozpin a warm feeling when, in a silvery-white light show, Ironwood's Aura flashed and vanished. Ozpin had missed having people trust him like this. James did not even look up from his cup as Ozpin raised his hand and summoned his ancient magic.

"Sleep well, old friend. Everything is going to be okay." Ozpin muttered as the sleep spell took effect. Ironwood slumped forward, the cup falling from his hand.

Oscar took back control and gently moved Ironwood's head far enough that he could reach the transmit button.

"General Ironwood." Ruby's tone was angry and flat, "What?"

"Actually, Ruby, it's me, well, us." Oscar said.

"I... Oscar?" Ruby's tone changed completely, and Oscar could hear indistinct voices in the back of the airship. She shouted excitedly, "What are you doing calling from Ironwood's office?!" 

"It's a long story that I'll tell you once you get back here. Ironwood's cancelled your arrest orders and he's here with me now."

"That's..." Ruby's voice trailed off into silence. "That's great! Oscar, you talked him out of it?!"

"I had a little help. From, well, Ironwood's subconscious version of **you**..." 

**"What."**

"Oh, and someone else:

"Hello there, Miss Rose." Ozpin spoke in the same tone he used to introduce himself so long ago.


	3. Decisions and Consequences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: Mentions suicide.

Ruby's eyes widened in shock as she heard her old teacher's voice. It wasn't that she never expected to hear from Ozpin again, but he had been gone for long enough that she had started to wonder what would ever bring him back. Her eyes flickered from the radio and out the front window of the Manta. She gazed at the storm in the distance. 

A part of her told her to shout at Ozpin over the radio. It told her to say she hadn't needed his help to bring the lamp to Atlas, to face Ironwood and join up with his plan, or to fight Ironwood once he lost himself to his fears. It sounded like Yang after she learned of Ozpin's "gift" to uncle Qrow and his former sister. It brought a feeling of abandonment and bitterness and loss. It wanted Oscar, and only Oscar, back for good. It told her she didn't need anyone's help. Ruby let the angry voice rage in her head for a moment - it felt **good** , safe, confident and righteous. 

But only for a moment. That part of herself was strong - but scary. Every one of her greatest triumphs had come when she embraced it. But it had also almost cost her life more times than she wanted to count. Every time she listened to it, it made her do dangerous, reckless things. Things like attacking a Deathstalker all on her own, storming up the side of Beacon tower to face Cinder, walking across a continent without a map, diving down the cannon of a giant mech, standing up to Ironwood... 

She tried to stop that thought before it had a chance to take hold, but it was too late. Every time she had listened to "Ruby Rose the Badass," as she called it, she'd put herself and her team at risk. It had always worked out before, but, it was always close. If Weiss had been a little slower... if her silver eyes hadn't kicked on in time, if Qrow hadn't gotten to her... 

She didn't want to think about what would have happened. 

_But you don't need to think about it, you **know** what would have happened: You would have died, and your entire team would have fallen with you, and the whole world would have followed you not long after that. _ Ruby was all too familiar with that voice. A long time ago (actually - only a year and a half), it had sounded like Weiss telling her she wasn't good enough. After Beacon fell, it became Penny, or sometimes Pyrrha, or sometimes both, telling her she couldn't save them. Now it sounded like Salem, telling her that no matter how hard she worked, how much she fought, she'd never have the strength to stop them all. 

That part of her told her to cry for her teacher's protection. It told her that she had never seen a Grimm horde this big, that she had needed Cordovin - of all people - to save Argus from the last Leviathan she had faced. It reminded her that she didn't have a plan either, and that once the real Salem arrived and started her attack it would be too late to do anything. She, and her entire team, would die on the streets of Mantle, having accomplished nothing but managing to get Salem to stretch her legs. 

The mental image of Weiss lying on the floor of Haven academy, blood running out of her stomach, entered Ruby's mind. 

It morphed into the image of Blake lying on her side below the farmhouse, the Apathy reaching for her neck. 

Which replaced itself just as quickly with Yang lying in her bed back at home with a missing arm and a broken spirit. 

Ruby's silver eyes flared. She took those images and shoved them into the smallest corner of her mind, turned them to stone and blew them away. 

Outside her mind, Ruby blinked the tears out of her eyes. Salem had come for Atlas. She needed to stay strong - for her team. But she couldn't help the small shake in her hands. 

A new voice, sounded like her mother, said she could do it. 

The voice that sounded like Salem said she couldn't. 

She didn't know which one to believe anymore, but Ozpin was still waiting for an answer. 

"Professor," she managed to keep **most** of the venom out of her voice, and most of the fear. "It's good to have you back," she half-lied. 

Ozpin noticed. To an untrained listener, his reply would seem to have come out in an even, patient tone, "I wish I could say it was good to be back. I **was** perfectly happy to let the rest of you try your hand at this war without me. Alas, it seems I **am** needed, after all." But Ruby knew better - that was Ozpin's "I'm not mad, just disappointed" voice. 

She grit her teeth, she did **not** need this right now, "Well, professor, if you have a plan, by all means, I'm all ears." 

"In time, Miss Rose, but I think it would be much easier to explain our current situation and next steps in person. Please, turn around and come back to Atlas Academy. You can find us in the headmaster's office." 

Ruby hung up on Ozpin and looked down at the radio, as if asking it for an answer. If Maria had any opinion on the matter, she was keeping it to herself, so Ruby looked back at her team. Blake and Yang were sitting on one of the benches, leaning on each other, exhausted from their escape from the ACE-OPS. If Blake could hear Ozpin's voice from back there, she seemed to be keeping it to herself. A meaningful glance from her faunus teammate informed Ruby that, yes, Blake had heard that - and it worried her. 

Weiss sat opposite them, curled in on herself and biting her lip with worry. _Winter was pretty beat up when we last saw her... I wonder if..._

"Ruby?" a quiet, hopeful voice broke Ruby's train of thought. She hadn't noticed Penny stand up from beside Weiss to walk over to her. Ruby turned to face the robot girl, and tried to give her a welcoming, supportive look as she nodded for her to continue. 

"If... if Ironwood really has called his plan off, I- I think... I think we **should** go back to them-" Penny's words were cut off by a loud noise - Yang had jumped to her feet. Penny started, and shrank behind Ruby as Yang closed the short distance between them. 

"Woah, woah, woah! Hold on a second there. What's this about going back to Ironwood?" Where Penny's words were quiet, as if she didn't even know if she wanted **Ruby** to hear them, Yang's were anything but - full of fire and disbelief. Her eyes burned red. 

Ruby's hand reached behind her and found Penny's, trying to comfort her. Penny was stressed enough, and angry, protective Yang could be pretty scary whether or not she meant any harm. Ruby sent Yang a pointed look, relying on their sisterly telepathy to convey the right message: "Simmer down, you're scaring your friends." 

Yang's outrage subsided a bit as she saw Penny move to put Ruby between them. With visible effort and a deep breath, she willed her eyes back to their natural violet. "Sorry, I just-" 

"Are you **sure** we can trust him?" Blake finished Yang's sentence as she stood up from the bench. 

Ruby looked over to Weiss, but a confused, pleading look was all she got from the girl. She didn't want Ruby to ask her to choose between her sister, and her team's safety. Picking one family or another was not something Weiss could handle. 

Over Yang's shoulder, Ruby saw Jaune put one hand each on Nora and Ren's shoulders, stopping them from joining the rush on the younger leader. 

_Thanks Jaune, this is already **exhausting**._ she thought as she tried to reach a conclusion herself. 

Ruby took a calming breath herself, before fixing her eyes on her sister and speaking: "Penny, I'm sorry Yang interrupted you. Please, finish what you were saying." 

Penny straightened up behind Ruby, "I think... I think we should go back. Ironwood made a mistake, but that doesn't mean he's a bad man. I'm... **sure** he's sorry about having the ACE-OPS try to arrest you and I think everyone's going to be safer if we all work together... instead of against each other." She still couldn't quite make eye contact with Yang. 

Yang tried to keep her voice down, "I- sorry I don't mean that we should work **against** Ironwood, but, he's already tried to grab us once. Just because he's not an enemy anymore doesn't mean he's a friend now. I just think we should be cautious about walking straight into his office **this soon**." 

"Oscar doesn't seem like he's in danger," Maria chimed in from the pilot's seat. 

"Yeah, but I bet that has more to do with the manipulative bastard in his head twisting Ironwood around his finger than Ironwood suddenly growing a heart." Yang scowled. 

"The General is **not** heartless-" Penny started, stepping out from behind Ruby to stare Yang down. 

Yang narrowed her eyes: "What **else** do you call deciding to just leave everyone in Mantle to the Grimm?" 

"A **mistake**. The General made a **mistake**! Salem got to him and he **panicked**. He didn't know what to do so he went with his first instinct." It seemed Penny had found her courage, because she stepped closer to Yang. 

"Whose first instinct is it to just **run**?! Just **leave** everybody behind?!" Yang's eyes had turned back to red. 

"Mine was." Blake offered, staring at the ground. 

Penny and Yang stopped and turned to Blake. Ruby tried giving her faunus teammate a comforting look, "You know we don't hold that against you, right?" 

"I know." Blake closed her eyes and smiled, remembering the moment she had found her team again, "And I can't tell you how thankful I am for that. But I **did** run. I **did** leave everyone behind. It took my parents, and Sun, and even Ilia, to give me the strength to come back. I don't... I don't think Ironwood has anyone like that for him." 

"So you're voting we go back?" Yang frowned at Blake, but her violet eyes showed there was no anger in it. 

"I am, too." Weiss cut in, walking over to sit by Blake, "I want to find my sister... talk to her... I think, Blake, if anyone can really help Ironwood the way Sun helped you, it's probably her." 

"Well," Yang trailed off, looking back to Ruby, "I'd say I just got outvoted, but I guess this is really your choice, Rubes." Beside her, Penny gave a huff and turned to Ruby as well. 

_I hate this part of my job._ Ruby vastly preferred to lead by consensus. Usually, all she had to do was come up with a good plan and everyone would just follow her lead. She could trust her team to do their best to carry it out and improvise if they had to. The last time she had to seriously fight with them over what to do next, it was because everyone was under the influence of mind-altering Grimm. 

But no, not now. Now, she had to make a call and live with the consequences. 

"I think..." Ruby looked from her sister's frown to Penny's hopeful smile and... annoyed? eyes. Ruby wasn't sure what to make of that expression. "I think I don't trust Ironwood." Penny's face fell, "But we're still going back." Ruby turned towards the front, "Maria, turn the ship around. Drop us on the roof of the academy. Keep the airship moving." 

"You don't trust him, but we're going back?" Yang said from behind her, incredulously. 

"Oscar's in there, he's not leaving, and Qrow isn't answering his scroll. Winter is hurt, and we didn't exactly leave the ACE-OPS in the best of shape either." _And I have absolutely no idea how we're going to handle Salem by ourselves_ Ruby added in her mind, "That makes this simple: Our friends need us, so we're going in. But, we're taking precautions. Agreed?" she gave a pointed look to Yang, who nodded. 

She didn't see Penny's frown. 

* * *

In Ironwood's office, Ozpin considered how he would approach the coming argument. He looked at the unconscious form of his old friend, lying slumped forward at his desk. His head had turned to the side, and now faced the right wall of the room. The General's glass had fallen to the floor and rolled in front of the desk. The bottle of... something alcoholic, whatever it was... stood mostly full near Ironwood's left arm. Ozpin knew he had a few minutes, but only that, to find a peaceful solution to the approaching storm. 

He had no illusions that the two sides would reconcile without his... assistance. 

Without saying a word to his partner, Ozpin took the bottle in his hand. With a silent apology, he poured the contents onto Ironwood's sleeping face. 

_What the hell are you doing now?_ Oscar's voice interrupted Ozpin's train of thought. 

Ozpin's wry smile crossed the boy's face. "Telling a little lie." He said softly. 

Quickly repositioning the sleeping soldier, Ozpin poured more of the alcohol down the man's front. He lay Ironwood's head back down where he found it. Having drained most of the contents of the bottle, he placed it in Ironwood's left hand, sitting on its side so that the General appeared to have fallen asleep while holding it. Ozpin quickly walked out in front, making sure the view met his expectations. 

_Why are you doing this?_ Oscar demanded, _If someone sees James like this..._

_Oh, someone will. Specifically: Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang will see James **precisely** like this. Sometimes, Oscar, little lies tell greater truths. If I do nothing, they will tell themselves a greater lie than the one I create._ Ozpin pulled Ironwood's empty gun from where he had stuffed it. He paused, realizing the gun in his hand was not, in fact, Due Process or its twin - as he had believed in the vault. He opened the drawer on Ironwood's desk to his immediate right, spotting the missing revolver in there. 

_He must have left it here when he tried to have team RWBY arrested._ Ozpin mused. _And to think, normally he's the one to plan things out._ Ozpin unloaded the weapon, except for a single bullet. He spun the chamber and placed the gun in Ironwood's right hand, which he moved to rest on the desk beside his head. He stepped to the front of the room and surveyed his work, smiling at what he had accomplished in only a minute or two. 

_Don't you think that's going a little too far?_ Oscar's voice mixed fear and misery. 

_On the contrary, I rather wish I had some blood to complete the scene. Alas, it will have to do._

_I don't like this. This is... we're going to hurt Ruby bad, Oz._

_Yes, that's rather the idea. I don't like it any more than you do, Oscar. But Ruby must face the consequences of her choices, even if I must... summarize them... for her._ He heard voices in the hallway behind him, and recognized his star students by their sound. Ozpin walked to the corner of the room by the door, where he would not be seen immediately. _Please, let me do the talking._

Ozpin leaned against the wall. He did not have to wait long. He listened as a quiet voice outside the door said, "Barrier glyph first to get us a second, then if he's hostile switch to ice. Go." 

A moment later, Weiss' knight crashed through the doors to Ironwood's office. As it struck the ground, it dissolved into an icy mist which broke around a newly formed barrier glyph as Ruby dove around the corner to her new cover. Ruby brought Crescent Rose up to her eyes as she landed, aimed and ready to fire. 

A second later, Ruby lowered it. From his corner, Ozpin could not see his star student's face. But, if it matched her voice, perhaps that was a mercy, "I- I- Ironwood?" She sounded so small. 

_You poor child._ Ozpin thought, a pang of remorse spreading through his body. He tried to suppress the feeling, but found he couldn't. Oscar was stopping him.

A moment later, perhaps reacting to the sound, Weiss rounded the corner and froze. Her weapon dropped from grip as her hand went over her mouth. The glyph between Ruby and Ironwood shattered before it even had a chance to hit the floor. Ruby was at the desk in a flash of rose petals. Ozpin could hear her whispering "No... please no... please be alive..." 

The trickster teacher smiled. _Good. I was not entirely sure she would care._ Then he frowned at the indignation he felt from his newest life. _Miss Rose was... is no friend to James._

_Oz, I know you're not very happy with any of us right now, but please tell me you didn't **actually** think... _

Oscar received no answer, as Ruby's whispers turned from frantic to confused, "Where's...? There's... there's no...?" her eyes darted over to the gun, at the single bullet still inside and stopped speaking. A moment later, a quiet snore escaped from Ironwood's mouth, followed by two rather louder sighs of relief from the girls. 

"He's okay! Weiss, he's..." Ruby's voice trailed off as she breathed in again. Weiss joined her partner and both of them shared a grimace. They recognized the smell. They both knew the scene in front of them all too well. They had seen it far too many times before. 

"I... didn't think Ironwood drank," Ruby said softly. 

"He didn't," Weiss replied. 

_And that, my young host, is my cue._ Ozpin stood up from the wall, "Well! Miss Rose, are you pleased with the outcome of your choices?" He allowed his voice to drop, gaining a tiny bit of venom towards the end. 

Ozpin kept his face passive as both girls jumped and turned around. 

_You're enjoying this._ Oscar snarled at his partner. 

Ozpin sighed, replying as he walked towards the center of the room, _No. James is my friend, and Ruby hurt him badly._ Ozpin recalled the look on Ironwood's face in the vault, _But that's not why I'm doing this. Ruby... they... **you all** need to learn a lesson, and James has provided me the perfect opportunity to teach it. It will not be pleasant, but it will be highly instructive. _

Ruby's face fell into a wary frown as she spotted Ozpin's glowing eyes, Ozpin watched her move in front of Weiss as Oscar continued _This is something I'd expect from Salem, not you._

Ruby looked at Ozpin, then back at Ironwood and Weiss. Ozpin could see the gears turning in her head: She was wondering how much of this was true. On some level, knowing that Ruby had learned to doubt even her own eyes while he was around hurt him. But, he supposed he could hardly argue with her. 

Ozpin stopped and closed his eyes to speak to his partner, _Yes, like Salem, I lie to people. I manipulate them. I operate them as James would his robots. But where Salem lies to break people down, to make them helpless and dependent before her, I think you'll find I do quite the opposite. I lie to make people stronger. I wish I didn't have to, but I do. The truth is complicated and unpleasant - James did not like it, and neither would Ruby. This lie will teach her the same thing, but it will be over quicker. I will not allow her to suffer for a moment longer than necessary, and I will not let her feel any worse than she needs to. And you **know** that the truth of the situation is not actually far from the story I'm telling._

_I still hate this_ Oscar replied. 

_Think of it like a sparring match. She will be stronger for this experience, just watch._ Ozpin looked over Ruby's shoulder at the sleeping form behind her. 

"I'm not **happy** with any of this, Professor," Ruby turned back to Ironwood, "But if this is what it took to stop him from leaving Mantle", she turned back and looked Ozpin in the eye, "then I don't regret anything either." She paused and looked back at Weiss, and then to Ironwood, "I'm glad he's still... with us. Glad you're back, too." 

Ozpin shook his head, "Ruby... I never left. I've been watching from Oscar's mind ever since you learned the truth about Salem. I have been... monitoring your efforts. You and I both know I'm not talking about your choice to save Mantle. **That** was the first good decision you have made since you left that farmhouse." Ozpin's voice turned harsh towards the end of his sentence. 

He walked up to Ruby, grabbed her arm and turned her around to face Ironwood. His arm went out and pointed at the General, "Take a good look, Miss Rose. **That** is the culmination of your leadership up to this moment. **That** is one of your most powerful allies **driven to the bottle - and almost - to his grave.** " 

Ruby bit her lip as she pulled away from Ozpin, taking a step towards Weiss. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked away, "I didn't make him decide to abandon Mantle." 

Ozpin placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder, and spun her back around towards the General and himself again, before continuing, "Didn't you? Did you not tell him of Salem's immortality? Pardon me, I seem to remember Oscar enlightening James on that subject:" Ozpin started to count on his fingers, "on your orders, after you lied to him for weeks, during a crisis, and right before everything went from bad to worse. So, you tell me, if **you** didn't do this, who did?" 

Ruby's frown turned into a outraged glare, "You're saying I should have **kept** lying to him? It was **your** lie to start with! And it was Salem's taunting that pushed him over the edge." She turned her face from him, shaking her head. 

Weiss cut in from behind Ruby, "Besides, Ironwood isn't some civilian we have to protect. He's a general; he's The General. We thought he could handle the truth." 

Ozpin fixed his sights on Weiss, "Allow me to share some wisdom I've gathered about how people work from my many lifetimes: **Everyone** has their limits. The General is not **literally** made of iron. You pushed him too hard, and he broke." 

Ozpin turned back to Ruby, " **You** should have known better. Do you remember the moment Jinn told you my secrets? All of you turned on me, even Qrow. That's the funny thing about lying: Once you've done it, you've got to **keep** lying. Because, no matter how much people might say they want to know the truth, much as they might say you're their friend and you can tell them anything, once you give them what they want, they turn on you. It happened to me in this life, and it has happened to me in more lives than I can even begin to count. 

Ozpin stepped towards Ruby, pointing at her, " **You** decided to lie to Ironwood when you arrived in Atlas. Now, I can hardly shame you for the mere act of lying. After all, I did do it first. But I can blame you for the act of utter **stupidity** you followed it up with: You told him the truth, the complete truth, at the worst imaginable moment. You changed horses halfway through the river, Ruby. Now that, I do blame you for." 

Ozpin took another step forward, forcing Ruby to step back. He reached up and took hold of her collar, pulling her down the short distance so that their eyes were level. It wasn't a harsh movement, but it wasn't a gentle one either. Ozpin continued his ranting, "To say nothing of the other mistakes I've watched you make: You stole an airship, you got **arrested with the Relic** , you let Yang go to Robyn, you lost **the Relic!** People have **died** because of these mistakes." 

This was, without a doubt, the harshest tone Ruby had ever heard from Ozpin. It wasn't scary but it was... deeply unsettling. Ruby yanked back, pulling her collar free from Ozpin's grip and turning away, "I didn't know Adam would attack Blake at that moment; I didn't know the ACE-OPS had our positions; I didn't know Yang would go to Robyn and I didn't know Neo would attack **you**. You're blaming me for things other people did." 

Ozpin stepped around Ruby, placing himself between her and Weiss "That's the burden of leadership, Ruby. When something goes wrong, **it's your fault**. Even if you didn't **do** anything wrong, you should have done something to stop these things. It was my fault that Beacon fell; I should have seen through Cinder's ruse. It was my fault that Penny died; I should have known that Ironwood wouldn't abandon a project like hers just because I told him to. It was my fault that Pyrrha died; I should have ordered her to run for her life. It was my fault the battle of Haven nearly killed Weiss; I should have realized we were walking into an ambush. It was my fault you all turned on me; I should have prepared you better for learning the truth." Ozpin's voice quieted a little as he listed his most recent failures to Ruby, gained a feeling of shame and remorse. Ruby saw tears in Oscar's eyes and, for a moment, Ruby worried that her teacher was hurting so badly, but it was hard to focus on - she had other things on her mind. 

Specifically, she was having trouble hearing herself think over her imagination's impression of Salem's condescending laugh. 

And besides, it didn't last. After a breath, Ozpin's fury returned: "You should have known the plan to steal that airship was risky. You should have known that with all the surveillance around, Atlas would be able to track you. You should have known what Yang was thinking and you should have stopped her. And you should have kept the relic in the vault so it would be safe from Salem's agents - not left it with your second weakest fighter. And, as for the General, Salem might have pushed him **over** the edge, but **you** drove him to it. Sorry, should I have perhaps told Salem not to pick on Ironwood? That he was feeling vulnerable? Salem is a chess-master, and she exploited **your** blunders." 

Ozpin paused for Ruby's reply, but it never came. She had turned to look at the General again, and he could see tears in her eyes. 

She didn't just look remorseful, she looked scared. 

"That is enough!" Weiss's voice's cut through the silence as she shoved Oscar to one side. She ran over to her leader and pulled the younger girl into a tight hug. 

Ozpin could hear Ruby whisper, "What if... what if I'm not good enough? Mom wasn't..." then he heard a whimper. 

_Hey, Professor,_ it seemed the child in his head had picked up on Ruby's nickname for him, _Remember your lecture about how everyone has their limits? I think you just found Ruby's._

Ozpin looked closer at his star pupil. He couldn't see her face, but, the ragged movements of her shoulders suggested he had driven her to tears. He strained his hearing, Ruby's voice had fallen to a whisper, "I don't... I don't want to watch you die... Weiss... not again." If they had been tears of guilt at making such foolish mistakes, he might have accepted the outcome. But breaking Ruby's confidence entirely... that had not been part of the plan. 

Ozpin knew her well enough to know that Ruby bottled her emotions up, buried them under either a cheerful disposition or a stoic determination. If she was showing them now, she was close to her breaking point, if not already past it. 

_Perhaps I did go too far..._ Ozpin could feel Oscar rolling his eyes. He looked away from his crumbling student and met Weiss' icy glare. He cleared his throat, "But, Ruby, even after all is said and done, I still do not regret naming you the leader of your team." 

He stepped over and placed a hand on Ruby's back. He couldn't see her face, but she still seemed to need more encouragement, so he continued, "I believe you could have played better, but I do not believe anyone could have won from the position you found yourself in once you arrived in Atlas. Too many mistakes had already been made... mostly by me." 

_Help us_ he asked the boy. 

Oscar tried to make his voice sound comforting, "Ruby, looking back on it, if I could do it all again with anyone else as the leader, well, I'd still have picked you." 

Ruby looked up, anger and frustration in her silver eyes, "Don't you **get it?!** I don't care! I don't care if I failed because the mission was impossible, I care **that I failed**! I care that people are dying, that people are going to die, because I couldn't save them. I-" she buried her head in Weiss' shoulder again. 

Ozpin let the anger pass, he tried to give her his best encouraging voice: "But Ruby, you haven't failed. Not yet at least. You've made mistakes, but you haven't failed until Atlas falls. We're not going to let that happen." He sighed as he felt Ruby's breath start to calm, but she didn't look up. 

Weiss whispered into Ruby's ear, "You can do this; I know you can. I'm sure Blake and Yang would say the same." The former heiress moved her hand from Ruby's side to reach for her scroll. 

That seemed to do the trick - Ruby pulled her head up, and shook it. She felt silently thankful that, of the people she cared about, only Weiss and Oscar had witnessed that moment of weakness. She willed the tears away and found her voice: "I'm sorry you had to see that, Weiss, Oscar, I just... I don't want to lose anyone else. It's my job to keep everybody safe... I don't want to... don't want to see what happens if we don't." 

"Then I suggest," Ozpin's voice had returned to its normal 'patient teacher' tone, "we start making a plan." He walked over to the wall and hit a button to activate Ironwood's projection system. In a flash, a hologram of Atlas and its surrounding areas appeared in the middle of the room. Visible were the twin cities of Atlas and Mantle. They noticed the triangular formation of the Atlas military capital ships was pointing at something. 

And there, on the sensor hologram, they saw the beast. 

**Author's Note:**

> First fic, reviews (especially critical) appreciated.


End file.
